+ TEENS HAVING SEX!!!

Mar 7, 2005

Dear Dr. Bob,

I just read on the news (we have more or less real news here, no Fox5) that American HIV-positive teens have over the last five years doubled their sexual partners, increased their IV-use by 33% and even have unprotected sex, BECAUSE they think that since their viral load (due to HAART) is low and sometimes undetectable, they are playing it safe now.

What's going on??? Not only do you need real Sex Ed. - classes BEFORE the age of 17 over there, but also Sex. Ed - classes for HIV-positive teens now, who are superinfecting themselves by being utterly stupid and selfish.

Please consider this mail: we now have drugs that work miracles in keeping the disease at bay... don't let some idiots catch mutated strains that could endanger the hope for finding a cure.

Cheers,

L.

AIDS does not discriminate - people do.

Response from Dr. Frascino

Hello L,

I'm not exactly sure where "here" is, but consider yourself lucky Fox propaganda hasn't yet started polluting your airways. I absolutely agree the state of sex education in the US is scandalous, very dangerous and getting worse with the current administration's woefully misguided policies. Below, I'll reprint a question I recently posted that addressed some of these problems.

Say, my doc is starting me on Procrit. What's the best starting dose? My doc said something like 40 or maybe even 400 to start. Is that right? Sounds like a lot to me.
Next do you think Bush's push for abstinence only sex education is a good idea? It might stop some HIV infections and after all it can't hurt, right? Maybe we should support it. What do you think?

Zoltan

Dr. Bob's response:

Hey Zoltan,

First off, cool name!

Neither 40 nor 400 is a recommended starting dose for Procrit. These may sound like a lot, but in reality are way too low. The correct recommended starting dose is 40,000 units once per week. Maybe when your doc mentioned "40" he was referring to 40 thousand.
Next, Bush's abstinence-only sex education program! Not only is it not a good idea, but I feel it can and is causing considerable harm! I'm sure Dubya means well, but "abstinence-only" is a misnomer for what in reality is an assault on sex education in general. There is mounting evidence that abstinence-only programs do not result in more rosy-cheeked virgins, but rather in more pregnancies, abortions, STDs and deaths form HIV/AIDS.

I support abstinence education, not abstinence-only education. Abstinence-only programs are not designed to promote abstinence, but rather to prevent the teaching of effective contraception! Did you know that in order to get federal funds, abstinence-only programs are barred by law from discussing condoms or other forms of contraception, except to describe how they can fail! Shocking, isn't it?

Most other developed nations of the world focus sex education much more on contraception. Consequently, today, while US teenagers have about as much sex as Canadian or European teens, American girls are four times more likely than German girls to become pregnant, five times more likely than French girls to have a baby and seven times more likely than Dutch girls to have an abortion!!! When it comes to HIV, young Americans are five times more likely to contract the virus than young Germans. The teenagers' gonorrhea rate in the US is 70 (yes, seventy!) times higher than in the Netherlands and France!
Abstinence-only proponents will claim there are studies that suggest the approach does work; however, a closer look at these studies reveals they are riddled with flaws!

There are now plenty of studies that support "abstinence-plus" sex education programs. These programs encourage abstinence, but also teach contraception. These programs do indeed delay sex and increase the use of contraception.

And so once again Bush's science-proof mind is promoting an agenda that cuts school and health programs while pouring additional tax dollars into abstinence-only initiatives. The result will be more pregnancies, more abortions and more kids with AIDS. Do you still think this is a good idea?

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